The , or JNRSC, was a temporary holding company created to distribute the assets of the former

Japanese National Railways The abbreviated JNR or , was the business entity that operated Japan's national railway network from 1949 to 1987. Network Railways As of June 1, 1949, the date of establishment of JNR, it operated of narrow gauge () railways in all 46 pref ...

(JNR) after its privatization in the mid-1980s. On October 22, 1998, the JNRSC was disbanded and placed under the Japan Railway Construction Public Corporation, JRCC, and its assets were transferred. Currently, the

Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

holds the liabilities and assets of the JNRSC. The goal of disbanding the JNR was to privatize the newly created JR satellite companies, known collectively as the

JR Group The Japan Railways Group, more commonly known as the or simply JR, consists of seven for-profit stock companies that took over most of the assets and operations of the government-owned Japanese National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987. Mo ...

. Each of the seven companies was created as a

kabushiki gaisha A or ''kabushiki kaisha'', commonly abbreviated K.K. or KK, is a type of defined under the Companies Act of Japan. The term is often translated as "stock company", " joint-stock company" or "stock corporation". The term ''kabushiki gaisha'' ...

with the Japanese government as sole shareholder. Currently, JR East,

JR West , also referred to as , is one of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group) companies and operates in western Honshu. It has its headquarters in Kita-ku, Osaka. It is listed in the Tokyo Stock Exchange, is a constituent of the TOPIX Large70 index, an ...

, JR Central and

JR Kyushu The , also referred to as , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates intercity rail services within Kyushu, Japan and the JR Kyushu Jet Ferry Beetle hydrofoil service across the Tsushima St ...

are entirely privatized. JNRSC still holds titles to the remaining four JR Group companies,

Hokkaido Railway Company The is one of the constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group), and is often referred to using its official abbreviation of . It operates intercity and local rail services in Hokkaido, Japan. The company introduced Kitaca, a s ...

(JR Hokkaido),

Shikoku Railway Company The , commonly known as , is the smallest of the seven constituent companies of the Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It operates of intercity and local rail services in the four prefectures on the island of Shikoku in Japan. The company has i ...

(JR Shikoku), and the

Japan Freight Railway Company , or , is one of the seven constituent companies of Japan Railways Group (JR Group). It provides transportation of cargo nationwide throughout Japan. Its headquarters are in Shibuya, Tokyo near Shinjuku Station. The Japan Railways Group was fou ...

(JR Freight).

Debt

In 1987, when the privatization of Japanese National Railways took place, JNR debt totaled over ¥37 trillion. Upon passage of the 1987 Railway Reform Law, the debt of JNR was split, with 60% of the responsibility falling directly on the JNR Settlement Corporation, and 40% falling on three of the JR Group railway companies, JR East, JR Central, and

. While the smaller portion was expected to be repaid, the three JR Group railway companies were not held liable for failed earnings, and only made significant profit through sale of stock. JNR dignitaries staggered interest payments on the large existing debt to keep the JNRSC from paying back the debts that it was expected to. During its tenure, the debt increased, leaving taxpayers to pay off nearly ¥24 trillion as of 2009.

Worker controversy

When JNR was disbanded, many workers were left without jobs. The

National Railway Workers' Union The is a Japanese trade union, which is usually referred to as in Japanese. Historically, Kokurō represented many of the workers who worked for Japanese National Railways (JNR), from which the union derived its name. For several decades in th ...

(Kokuro), and Japan Railway Motive Power Union, both prominent Japanese railway unions, represented a number of the JNR workers. JNR-provided lists contained workers' names for hire at the seven JR Group railway companies. Members of Kokuro and the Japan Railway Motive Power Union were left off this list after being instructed to leave the union or face being laid off. After the restructuring, some 7,600 former JNR workers, mostly Kokuro members, were left without jobs. JNRSC, after acquiring many of them, proceeded to fire more than 1,000. This controversy was cited as example of unfair labor practice by a number of union commissions, and litigation was brought up to fight against the anti-labor acts of JNR and its JR Group successors. On December 22, 2003, the

Supreme Court of Japan The , located in Hayabusachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, is the highest court in Japan. It has ultimate judicial authority to interpret the Japanese constitution and decide questions of national law. It has the power of judicial review, which allows it t ...

ruled in favor of the JR Group companies, saying that unfair labor practices by JNR were not the responsibility of the JR Group companies, and as independently operating agencies, they were not legally obligated to hire back the dismissed workers. Litigation on the matter after 1998 rests on the Japan Railway Construction, Transport and Technology Agency, which now holds the majority sum of the JNRSC's liability and assets. On June 28, 2010, 23 years after the original privatization, the Supreme Court settled the dispute between the workers and the

, the successor body to the JNR Settlement Corporation. The agency said it would pay 20 billion yen, approximately 22 million yen per worker, to 904 plaintiffs. However, as the workers were not reinstated, it was not a full settlement.UNHCR websit
2012 Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights - Japan, 6 June 2012
Retrieved on July 25, 2012

Notes

References

*“¥23 billion deal pitched for JNR unionists.” Editorial. The Japan Times. 19 March 2010. Web. 25 April 2010. *Case to Seek Cancellation of the Remedial Order against Unfair Labor Practices. Tokyo High Court. 22 December 2000. Web. 25 April 2010. *The Japan Time

Retrieved on August 2, 2012 {{Authority control Japan Railway companies